GLOBAL FOOTBALL? WHY NOT CELEBRATE BRAZIL?

In 1894, Charles Miller arrived from England with two footballs, some kit and a set of Hampshire FA  "rules". Miller was born in Sao Paulo to an English father, Scot John Miller, a railway engineer, and a Brazilian mother; very much part of the coffee and commerce elite of Sao Paulo. He was sent to England for his education, to a school called Bannister Court on Hampshire. He played football for the school team and the Corinthians, as well as the recently formed local professionals, St Mary's, later Southampton FC.

The São Paulo Athletic Club was formed in 1894 by Charles Miller and the Associacao Atletica MacKenzie College, from 1898, was the first team dedicated to Brazilians. The first club destined only for football was the São Paulo Sport Club Internacional, founded in 1899 and already extinct. Soon after, in the same year, the Sport Club Germânia was founded by the German Hans Nobiling, today under the name Esporte Clube Pinheiros.

Due to the extinction of Germânia's football department, the Sporte Club Riogrande, located in the city of Rio Grande do Sul, is considered the first football club founded in Brazil that is still active. In 1976, in honor of the club, July 19th was named Brazil's National Football Day (Dia Nacional do Futebol).

After Sport Club Rio Grande, the oldest active club is Associacao Atletica Ponte Preta (AAPP) of Campinas, São Paulo, founded on August 11, 1900. The Sport Club Rio Grande plays in the Campeonato Gaucho, the regional Second Division, at the Arthur Lawson Stadium that hold 5,000. Here is the badge...almost a beach ball?

Returning to Brazil, Miller played for the Sao Paulo Cricket Club and persuaded his friends to play a "winter" sport, football. The first matches in 1895, were played on land scrub land, east of the city where mules grazed! The beasts of burden were used to pull city trams. The mules were chased away and replaced by lads called Sao Paulo Railways, playing The Gas Team from a local gas company.

In 1897, Hans Nobiling, a German immigrant, landed in Sao Paulo with German rules and some status of playing in Hamburg. A stranger, he couldn't get a game with Sao Paulo AC, so he gathered "excluded" non-Anglo immigrants and formed AC Internacional. More clubs formed included an exclusively Teutonic SC Germania, a team formed by American students from the local Mackenzie College and CA Paulistino a sports' club made of the city Brazilian elite.

By 1901 the club played friendlies, for example in May against some English sailors and by 1902 an extensive league programm (1st League), the Liga Paulista and city championship was staged. Brazil's National Football Day is held on July 19th to celebrate the club's founding.

COME ON THE LADIES

The Men habe had a lot of publicity, so for a change here is a note about Ladies Football and particularly Dick, Kerr Ladies, see below!! This was a team formed in a Preston munitions' factory (Dick, Kerr and Co) during the First World War. Letting women play soccer raised morale, especially when they played against the men!

Women's football has been part of my blog series and several references have been highlighted in the past; here they are.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/women-are-useless-at-playing-it.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/women-to-fore-at-last.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/locked-out-or-locked-in-with-and.html

The 2017 European Women's Championship have begun, with England playing Scotland tomorrow.
The Dick, Kerr Ladies football team and their free scoring teenage centre forward, Lily Parr, basked briefly in the type of publicity that our modern women enjoy today.
Have a look at Lily's "history".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Parr

The team existed between 1917 to 1965 playing 828 games, winning 758. Their first match was against the Arundel Coulthard Factory at Deepdale on Christmas Day 1917. 10,000 saw the Kerr Ladies win 4-0.

All money raised went to military charities. The Daily Post stated that the ladies suffered less from stage fright than their opponents (men) and had a better understanding of the game.

These pioneers were so popular that in 1920 they played St Helens Ladies in front of 53,000 at Goodison Park.

So POPULAR were they that the FA banned women's football the following year, stopping them from playing on the FA's affiliated pitches on the principle that football was "unsuitable for females".
Money and politics suddenly took over and one doctor announced that "the kicking is too jerky a movement for women. The hard knocks on the football field are bad for future mothers."

There was a "first international" against France in 1920 at Deepdale (2-0), then games at Stockport (5-2), Manchester (1-1) and Stamford Bridge (1-2). There was a return tour to France

Clare Boulding gets her gander up over the the "way of putting women back in their places". In the kitchen perhaps?

Where would our ladies have been today if the ban had not slowed down progress. The ban lasted until 1971 and the FA "recognised" women's football eventually in 1993! LOOK AT THEM NOW!!

Gail Newsham, an ex-footballer, is the author of Dick, Kerr's official history, "In a League of their Own".

DO I NOT LIKE THAT!

17th July 1994 The Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, USA, saw the first World Cup Final to be decided on a penalty shoot-out. After extra time had ended with the score at 0-0 Brazil beat Italy 3-2 on pens to win the title for the fourth time.

Under the leadership of new manager Graham Taylor (remember him?), England failed to qualify for the tournament!! In a group with six teams, England lost to Norway and The Netherlamds, finishing third above Poland, Turkey and San Marino.

England went into their final game with San Marino knowing they would need a seven-goal victory and for Poland to beat the Netherlands in the other match in order to qualify. In the game against San Marino, Davide Gualtiere scored against England after nine seconds, taking the lead for the outsiders. England went on to win 7–1, which was too small a goal margin. Additionally, despite the half-time score between the Poles and the Dutch being 1–1, the Dutch went on to win 3–1, meaning that however many goals England scored, they could still not qualify. Taylor's tenure in charge ended and he was replaced by Terry Venables, who left after England lost the semi-final of Euro 1996, hosted in England.

17th July 1991 The day that the Premier League took a giant step to reality. The 22 clubs in the old First Division – led by the ‘big 5’ of Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – signed the Founder Members Agreement in which they agreed to set up a new "League". That league would be separate from the existing Football League although there would be promotion and relegation between the Premier League and Football League with Premier League sides also remaining in the FA Cup and League Cup. The driving force behind the change was inevitably money. The top clubs wanted commercial independence from the Football League – and the FA – so they could negotiate their own TV deals and sponsorship agreements. They hoped the change would help the top clubs compete with the top teams in Europe…..and bank more money! The Premier League kicked off in the 1992/93 season.  

PYUNIK, ARMENIA

Football Club Pyunik is commonly known as Pyunik (meaning  'Phoenix'), an Armenian professional club based in the Kentron, neighbourhood of Yerevan. Yerevan is the country's capital and largest city, serving asof the centra its cultural, administrative, and industrial center. Located along the Hrazdan River, it is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Known as the "Pink City" due to the distinctive color of its volcanic tuff stone, it is home to over a million residents. 

 

Whose professional football team has been in action since 1992, It has always played in the Armenian Premier League, becoming the most successful team of Armenia in number of official titles, with 34 won to date.

Pyunik is also known to be one of the most popular football clubs in Armenia, along with clubs.... Urarta, Shitrak and Ararat. Look them up! and have a go at the country map!

Pyunik has always had a fierce rivalry with Ararta, as both clubs are considered to be the most successful clubs in Armenia, the latter due to its Soviets accomplishments. Both clubs are also the two most popular in the country and favorites within the Armenian Diaspora. Pyunik also shares a rivalry with which began when Urartu relocated from Abovyan to Yereran in 2001, and became the third largest team in the city. The Pyunik-Urartu rivalry is seen as one of the biggest clashes in Armenian football.

Owner	Anton Farber
Director General	Suren Baghdasaryan
Head coach	Artak Oseyan
League	Armenian Premier League

Pyunik's home stadium is the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, which is also home to the Armenia national football team. The youth academy has produced many Armenian internationals such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Robert Arzumanyan, Karlen Mkrtchyan, Edgar Manucharyan, Varazdat Haroyan and Gevorg Ghazaryan, many who have played or are playing for top European club.

Full name	Football Club Pyunik
Nickname	Նռնագույններ (Pomegranate Color)
Founded	20 January 1992; 34 years ago
Ground	Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium
Capacity	14,403

Internationally, Pyunik has yet to win an international title, with the closest result being a bronze place finish in the 2006 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup. Pyunik's domestic success usually qualifies the team for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds.

History: Pyunik was founded in 1992 by Armenian football legend Khoren Oganesian and originally named Homenetmen Yerevan. The club won the first Armenian Premier League competition held in 1992 which it shared with Shirak since both teams were tied on points. In 1995, Homenetmen Yerevan was renamed FC Pyunik (Armenian for "Phoenix"). Following the change of name, Pyunik went on to win the 1995–96 Armenian Premier League and end the season with a 59-match unbeaten streak.  In 1996, Pyunik played its first international cup match, a UEFA Europa League  qualifying match against Finnish club HJK Helsinki which Pyunik won 3–1. Pyunik also won the 1996-7 Armenian Premier League securing itself another chance at qualifying for an international cup playoffs the following year.  In 1997, Pyunik played its first UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Hungarian side MTK Budapest FC yet failed to qualify for the playoffs following a 6–3 defeat on aggregate. 1998 proved to be a crucial year for the club following the loss of its main source of funding and the subsequent departure of its main players. Pyunik finished 6th that season and withdrew from football altogether. Pyunik secured a comeback to professional football following its absorption of FC Armenican, a newly promoted team to the Armenian Premier League. The club's new management sought to bring more experience to the club and reinforced the squad with foreign players from Argentina, Cameroon, Mali and Romania. The reinforcements brought positive results and Pyunik went on to win the 2001 Armenian PL and 2002 Armenian Cup.  2002 saw Pyunik advance to the second round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying round after beating Finnish champions Tampere United 6–0 on aggregate. From 2002 forwards, Pyunik went on to win the Armenian Premier League a record of 10 times in a row, from 2001 to 2010.   In the 2022/23 season, after victories over Cluj and Dudelange, Pyunik became the first ever Armenian club to reach the third round of Cghampions League qualifying, where they played against former European Champions Crevena Zvezda, losing 7–0 on aggregate. Subsequently, Pyunik dropped into the play-off round of the Europa League, where they played against the Moldovan side Sheriff Ter. After two scoreless draws, Pyunik lost on penalties, thus dropping into the group stages of the Conference League, the first ever group stage appearance in a European competition for the club. After a defeat away against Basel on the first matchday, Pyunik faced Slovan Bratislava in their first home match in Yerevan, which they won by two goals. This result meant that they became the first ever Armenian team to win a game in UEFA group stage competitions. On 31 December 2024, Pyunik released a statement stating that ownership of the club had passed from Artur Soghomonyan to Anton Farber.

GETTING CLOSE!

England has reached two World Cup semi-finals in the six decades since winning the World Cup in 1966, The first was in Italia 90 and then in Russia, eight years ago. England has lost the World Cup semi-finals, but this latest fixture reignites an old rivalry! England has lost the past two European Championship Finals but under the roof of the futuristic Atlanta Stadium, England has the chance to compete in their first mens' World Cup Final in 60 years.

England National Club coach, Thomas Tuchel (see below), held a pre-match briefing last night, which had to be moved to a new venue where the huge amount of press interest could be accommodated, such is the interest in this fixture. Tuchel will lead England into the big match, facing a challenge, so far insurmountable since the 1966 Jules Rimet trophy victory 60 years ago.

The match kicks off at 20.00 BST tonight. The country's recent Global record since 2018, includes a defeat in the World Cup semi-final which ended badly for Sir Gareth Southgate, whose team froze following a goal by Kieran Trippier gave them the lead after just 5 minutes. Played in Moscow against Croatia, England lost 1-2 after extra time.  In the delayed 2020 Euro Cup Final, held at Wembley in July 2021 due to the Covid-19 epidemic, England squandered another opportunity after Luke Shaw had put them in the lead after two minutes! England lost on penalties to Italy, a team that had not been able to qualify for the World Cup in the past three attempts!!

The World Cup quarter-final in Qatar, four years ago was simply a match between a very good France and England! Harry Kane missed late penalty which didn't help! The subsequent run to the Euro 2024 Final was stodgey with an odd highlight, but concluded with a poor performance in Berlin as Spain beat Southgate's team 2-1. Now it is up to Tuchel's men whom he says, "We will now want to squeeze the last bit out. I like the energy in the "camp", the players are very excited, very ambitious. That's exactly what we need for this game!"

Assuming Argentina successfully defend their World Cup crown, it will be the first time this has happened since 1962 and just the third time ever....we assume Messi will be at the heart of this success! At present, Messi leads the Golden Boot race with Kylian Mbappe. 

JUVE? NOT MUCH JOY!

 14th July 2006

Five days after the defeat of France by Italy in the World Cup Final, back in the home country, Italian football was brought back down to earth when the Italian FA announced the punishments after an investigation into a major match-fixing scandal!! 

Known as the Calciopoli (Calcio is Italian for football!) scandal, it involved the bribing of referees and match fixing in Italian football in 2004/05 and 2005/06. The worst punishment handed down to the main five clubs involved was suffered by the very important, Juventus. 

Juve was stripped of the Italian championship titles they had won in 2004/05 and 2005/06 and were relegated to Serie B for 2006/07, with an additional 30 point deduction for 2006/07 although that was later reduced to 9 points on appeal. 

It was also announced that Fiorentina and Lazio were to be relegated to Serie B although that punishment was overturned on appeal with those two clubs, plus AC Milan and Reginna ending up with points deductions/fines/ground closures.  

Below...Juve 2005-2006.

The Juventus squad in 2005-06, guided by Fabio Capello, it was brilliant!!

LUCKY THIRTEEN FOR LUCIEN LAURENT

13th July 1930 FIFA WORLD CUP ON THIS DAY, 1930, 96 years ago, The first ever World Cup goal was scored. The goal was scored by French Legend, Lucien Laurent.

Lucien Laurent later joined the French armed forces during World War II , but spent three years as a prisoner of war in Saxony, before being released in 1943.

He played two years of wartime football for Besançon before retiring in 1946, opting to become a trainer and youth coach. He was the only surviving member of the 1930 French team to see France lift the 1998 World Cup on home soil, but died seven years later at the age of 97 in Besançon

On this day in 1930, 13 teams across Europe and the Americas took the field in Montivideo in Uruguay, for the start of the first FIFA World Cup. The tournament was hosted entirely in the Uruguayan capital, with the majority of games taking place at the then-newly constructed Estadio Centenario.

Asia (0)  Japan (withdrew)  Siam (withdrew) Africa (0)  Egypt (missed ship!!)

North America (2)  Mexico  United States South America (7)  Argentina  Bolivia  Brazil  Chile  Paraguay  Peru  Uruguay (hosts)

Europe (4)  Belgium  France  Romania  Yugoslavia

The two opening matches kicked off simultaneously, and French forward Lucien Laurent   scored the first goal in World Cup history—reportedly in falling snow. Uruguay would go on to defeat Argentina 4-2 on July 30 1930, to become the first World Football Cup champions.

 30 July 1930 12:45 UYT (UTC-03:30)

Uruguay	4–2	Argentina
Dorado  12' Cea  57' Iriarte  68' Castro  89'		Peucelle  20' Stábile  37'

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 68,346

Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)